1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cork device for resealing a bottle such as a wine bottle and allowing pouring of the liquid such as wine out of the bottle without the need of removing the cork device from a mouth of the bottle.
2. Description of the Related Art
A cork is usually used to seal a bottle containing grape wine, champagne or the like. Once the bottle is opened by means of removing the cork from the bottle, the fragrance and the quality of the liquor remained in the bottle deteriorate quickly. The sane problem exists in bottles using metal caps. Thus, the liquor in the unsealed bottle could become sour. A combined cork/cap structure has been proposed to solve this problem. The combined cork/cap includes a cork portion inserted into a mouth of an unsealed bottle, and a cap portion that can be turned to cause radial expansion/shrinkage of the cork portion. The cork portion can be expanded to provide the sealing function or shrunk to allow removal of the cork portion from the mouth of the unsealed bottle. Thus, the liquor in the unsealed bottle can be preserved for a longer time. However, the user has to turn the cap portion, remove the combined cork/cap, reinsert the cap portion into the bottle, and turn the cap portion in a reverse direction every time he wants to drink. This is quite inconvenient to the user.
An object of the present invention is to provide a cork device for resealing a bottle such as a wine bottle and allowing pouring of the liquid such as wine out of the bottle without the need of removing the cork device from a mouth of the bottle.
A cork device comprises a cork member and a control member. The cork member comprises a lower end to be inserted into a mouth of a bottle and an upper end. The lower end of the cork member including a liquid passage having a lower end communicated with an interior of the bottle and an upper end. The control member is pivotally mounted to the upper end of the cork member and movable between a sealing position and an open position. The control member includes a liquid outlet passage. The upper end of the liquid passage of the cork member is blocked by the control member when the control member is in the sealing position. The upper end of the liquid passage of the cork member is communicated with atmosphere via the liquid outlet passage when the control member is in the open position.
Other objects, advantages, and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.